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"Damn, this is far." I commented.

"Well, it's not like it can be close to town. I mean, it's supposed to be a secret." Piper responded simply.

"I know, but..." A thought struck me. "Piper, do you know what your dad plans to do once everyone on the other side of the border is, you know, in a 1 block space? And do you know how long it would take? How much time do we have?"

"As for the first question, I don't know." She admitted. "I've tried asking, but he never really told me anything. I don't think he knows, but I guess even his own daughter is a threat at this point. And as for the second question, the world is still millions of blocks wide. The people closer to it will probably wind up running from it until we put a stop to this, once and for all. But we probably have a LONG time. The thing is, it's not just when the border is 1x1. There are a LOT of people in the world. So at some point, it'll get small enough that people realize something's wrong. Not to mention he'll probably speed up the border." Out of nowhere, she stopped walking and turned to look at a tree.

"It's a tree." I said. "A lovely tree, but still just a tree." I looked up at the top, and-"Okay. Apparently it's a treehouse. Still, we need to get going."

Piper snapped out of her trance. "What? Oh, sorry. Forgot I wasn't alone. It's just that my mom and her friends used to hang out here, and I like looking at it."

I took another look. "You know, this looks almost.....familiar...." What? What was I saying? I'd never been here! How could it be familiar? Hm... "Oh! This is just similar to my old treehouse design. That's it." Guess me and the person who built this had similar taste in treehouse.

"You live in a treehouse? Cool!"

"Not anymore." I shrugged like it was no big deal. "I moved a few years ago because the cat population in the jungle it was in went extinct, and the place became overrun with creepers."

"Well..." She looked away from the treehouse, clearly trying to stop thinking of her mom. "I guess we have to keep moving."

I wondered what it was like to love someone like Piper had loved her mother, and how her mother had probably loved her. I'd survived on my own from the very first block I punched, and learned to turn a little into a lot when I was little. I lived on rotten flesh for a long time, because I got all my first stuff from raiding desert temples. I had always been good at surviving. But I'd never had a family. And sometimes at night, when I was curled up in bed writing in my diary, I admitted the truth to myself-I would give all my bow skill, all my diamonds, everything, for someone that loved me.

It was what you'd imagine a forcefield to look like. It had diagonal blue stripes moving right diagonally. And slowly but surely, it was closing in.

I stared at the forcefield for a few minutes. And after maybe ten minutes, it had moved in towards me one full block. Why was this happening? As I moved closer, the stripes started to turn green. I gently placed my hand on it. I tried to walk through it.... And the strangest thing happened. It was like I was being sucked in. There was the strange sensation of falling through a tunnel, and then I landed on the ground with a thud. Only this time, I was on the other side of the forcefield.

I stood up and looked around. This wasn't what I'd seen looking through. I'd seen a continuation of the field. And this was still a plains, but there was a village. Actually, it was more like a town. People walked about, appearing to be going about their normal daily routines. What WAS this place, and how could I get back home?

A girl who looked to be about my age noticed me and ran to me. "Did you legitimately just drop from the sky?"

"Well, yeah.... I guess I did." I said softly.

"You aren't from here, are you? I haven't seen you around here before."

"As a matter of fact, no." I answered. "I'm from the other side of the forcefield."

"You mean the border? That's crazy! What's your name? I'm Piper, Piper Wordsworth." She introduced herself.

"I'm Alyssa." I did the same.

"Alyssa what? I'd like your last name, too." Piper asked.

I blushed. "It's always just been Alyssa. I was born in the middle of a desert, and I never knew my parents. I'm lucky I was born near a village, or I may very well have died over and over."

Piper cringed. "That sounds like a very unpleasant fate. Well, I think you should meet my father."

I tilted my head quizzically. "Your father? Why?"

"Just come, okay?"

I don't know why, but I went with her. Piper just had this sort of thing that made you listen to her, believe her, and obey her.

I don't know how, but I wound up face-to-face with the most commanding-looking man you have ever seen. I swear he was seven blocks tall.

"Piper, you mean to say that she literally fell from the sky?"

"Yes. And she claims to have come from the other side of the border."

The man turned white. "Where are your parents?"

I shrugged. "No clue. They left me."

Whiter still. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen. Almost fourteen."

I swear he could have been a ghost, he was so pale. That's when Piper jumped in. "Can I talk to Alyssa? Privately?"

A bit of color returned to his face. "Yes, dear. Thank you." Why was he thanking her?

Piper dragged me up the stairs to what I presumed was a bedroom. Custom-made paintings hung on the walls. In the corner of the room lay a bed with a crafting table beside it. She appeared to be a hardcore miner, as one wall was half covered with furnaces. The other half was covered in bookcases. A window of magenta stained glass faced the town. Sunlight streamed throught it, casting brilliantly colored shadows onto the bright pink carpet. I gazed around in amazement. I'd never seen anything quite so grand in my entire life. She shut a door and turned to me. "So this is my room. Now, I think you should know about the prophecy."

My jaw dropped. "What prophecy?"

"Well, first you need to know about my father. That border was closing in, was it not?"

I nodded. "It was."

She asked,"Didn't you wonder why it was closing in? I know it was slow, but borders shouldn't close in." This seemed suspicious. Was Piper trying to get me to admit to something? I hadn't done anything wrong.... Unless cats and dogs weren't allowed over the border. Snowball and Ginger were currently standing beside me.

"I did, but it was so slow that I didn't think much of it. I mean, it took at least ten minutes for it to overtake one block." As I spoke, I realized-that was 6 blocks every hour. Which was 144 blocks every day.

"Maybe it was, but slow and steady wins the race."

I sighed. "Piper, I don't have any time for damn guessing games. What is the prophecy, and what does it have to do with me?"

"All right. Well, my father is trying to capture every human on the other side of the border."

I don't totally remember what happened after that. I think I fainted. All I know is that the world faded to black, and I woke up what I think was a few hours later. "Well, that happened." Piper remarked.

"Hang on." I said. "What's the prophecy? And do you support your father? Because I don't know if I trust you."

Piper shook her head wildly. "Nobody in the rebellion does. But I will never support him. NEVER. I hate him. I don't just hate what he's doing, I really hate him. But the thing is, he can never know what I think about him, because he can't just create insane borders. He's like the monsters in that book series about the Void."

"Into the Void? I've heard of that." I said. "Wait. You mean he can stop us from respawning?"

Piper nodded grimly. "He did it to my mother. He did it to a number of people in this town. He once even did it to this innocent couple. And if he knew what I am-what I support-, he would do it to me without hesitation. He might do it to you. He acts friendly, but he's a cold-hearted beast with no regret or guilt whatsoever." She stopped talking and looked at me, waiting for a reaction.

I took a moment to process this. "So what's the prophecy about, and what does it have to do with me?"

"Well," Piper began,"there's a prophecy that says that a man will, one day, try to take over the world using a border and threats. But a rebellion will start up and try to take him down. But the face of it all-the person who leads the rebellion-will be a female teenager who is seemingly from the other side of the border. She has nobody in the world who cares for her, and she cares for nobody. Does that sound like you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's me. I'm female, I'm 13, and you're the first person I've met in years. Wait-SEEMINGLY from the other side of the border?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "I didn't believe you were from the other side. Chances are, nobody will. Not at first. That's probably what the seemingly part means." She started talking in a hushed voice. "I think you ought to meet the rebellion."

"Okay. How many people are in it?" I whispered.

"I don't know. Five hundred, at least. A thousand at most."

I gaped. "That's more people than I've ever met."

"Well, you'll have to work with them to stop your kind from forever being stuck in a one-block area." She had a point.

Piper took me by the hand and we left the room. We went down the stairs, and she said to her father,"I was just going to show Alyssa around." Without waiting for a response, she led me out the door and into the thick forest.

"So, where is the rebellion?" I asked once we were out of earshot.

"Just outside of the forest. Just warning you, once they find out that you're the prophecy, they'll probably flip out and start worshipping you like you're some goddess."

"Because I care."

"Don't you?"

"Not really. They can think whatever they want." I shrugged.

We walked in silence for a while, until the forest stopped and the plains started again. I gasped. Just up ahead was a building. "Is that the rebels' meetup spot or something?" I didn't need a response. Piper's smile said it all.

Piper led me inside. "Everyone, I've found the answer to the prophecy."

Nobody moved a muscle. "Are you sure? She looks more like Katniss Everdeen than someone you'd make a prophecy about." A boy said.

"She probably tricked you."

I glanced at the enchanted bow I always carried, and the quiver on my shoulder. I was archery. I put everything that I was into my accurate shots. The only time I was truly happy was when I was aiming an arrow. Without my bow, I would be nothing. The more I thought about this, the madder I got. Thoughts raced through my head. My heart pounded. My fists clenched. And then I lost it. "You think I want this? You think I asked for any of this? No! I just wanted to live my life on the other side of the border! You're stuck with me, though! So why don't we all just make the best of it?" I screamed. As soon as I said it, everyone stared at me.

"Do you think she is the prophecy?" A whispered conversation between about twenty people followed.

"I would have thought she'd be older." A man said to who I presumed was his wife.

"The prophecy does say a teenager." She responded.

"Yes, but I thought it meant seventeen or eighteen. Maybe nineteen. Not, what is she, eleven?"

"Yes, that's very true."

"I'm fourteen in two weeks." I interjected.

"Okay! Can we just get to the point? Here is your prophecy, be satisfied with her. Even if she's too young or too attached to her bow." Piper yelled.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence. I spoke up. "What IS the point, anyway? I mean, here I am, yeah, but what are we going to do now? We can't just walk up to him and kill him all of a sudden because I'm here, can we?"

In the back row, a boy who was probaly a year or two younger than me said,"No, we can't. But the prophecy says that, buried deep underground, are stronghold-like buildings. Three of them. The are far away from each other, and each one carries something very powerful. One has the greatest sword that anyone could ever dream of carrying. Another has amazingly powerful armor. And the last one-you're going to like this-the last one has a ridiculously powerful bow and arrows."

"Wait a second." I snapped. "The greatest weapons of all time have been there this whole time, and yet you guys have been sitting around, waiting for me?"

There was an even more awkward moment of silence, until Piper stepped in. "I hate to say it, but she's right." She admitted. "Next week, we'll have been doing this for 7 years. And what have we done for the past 7 years every week? Strategized? Discussed plans?"

And then what she'd said made me angry. REALLY angry. "Exactly! You could have been fully geared by now, but no! You waited for your 'prophecy'! I'm no prophecy! I'm just some girl who's good with a bow! You could have defeated the guy ages ago WITHOUT ME!" My words surprised even me. They clearly surprised everyone else, too, because as I looked around, everyone was slack-jawed, with a shocked look in their eyes.

"Um....." Piper tried to find a way to make the situation less awkward. "How about we end this and meet again next week?" Slowly, everyone started leaving the room. She turned to me. "Alyssa, if you're going to be a part of this, you can't blow up like that. You have to keep your cool."

I shook my head. "No, I don't. I won't change who I am just to please these people. What's it matter what they think, anyway?"

"Well..." Piper sighed. "You have a point. Why are you so smart?"

That was when something hit me. "Piper, if we kill your father.... You'll have no family left. You said that he killed your mother. So you won't have any parents, and you seem to be an only child."

Tears pooled in her emerald green eyes. "I know. It's just that..." Then they started flowing. Piper sank into one of the wooden chairs. "I'd rather have no parents than have a parent like my father."

She got up, and we walked in silence back to the town.